This week, Kiza Restaurant will open its doors in DIFC as one of the few fine-dining African restaurants in the country. Long-time residents may recognise the name: for three years, there was a casual sports bar-style restaurant by the same name in Oud Metha (that restaurant, from the same owners of the new Kiza, relaunched this summer as YNOT).
Confident that African cuisine will hold its own on the fine dining scene, the owners have spent the last year developing the new, upscale Kiza – a fine dining concept that will focus on more than just food.
The eatery, set to open on Saturday, is an airy, chic space filled with modern African artwork – and will soon host gigs by African musicians.
“Kiza embodies the vibrancy and personality of Africa,” says the restaurant’s Nigerian founder, Lukman Akanbi, who has lived in Dubai for eight years.
“It is all-too easy to accept what is often a negative perception of the continent. We stand to redirect those perceptions.
“Our concept is to offer patrons a multifaceted sensory experience. We seek to combine food with art, music and fashion. Even then, we could never do justice to all that the continent has to offer.”
The menu is filled with dishes spanning the continent. You’ll find tamiya, a Sudanese take on falafel; kele wele, a popular street food in Ghana; an Ethiopian lamb soup; egusi, a ground melon-seed stew from Nigeria; an Eritrean chicken stew; a variety of West-African meat and vegetable pies; and so much more.
“It is my belief that African cuisine is generally inaccessible,” says Akanbi.
“If African cuisine had the same global reach as Peruvian, Chinese and Italian, perhaps there would be more of an appreciation for it. I genuinely see Kiza as spearheading that reach.”
Head chef Elhadji Fall, who is Senegalese and grew up in France, has been cooking for 16 years.
“Africa is a big continent,” he says. “Representing all regions in one menu without overloading it was challenging. What excites me about Kiza is that it is not just a restaurant; it is actually a journey through Africa.”
Authentic African cuisine will be presented in a refined setting – and the pricing reflects this. Mains range from Dh75 to Dh220, while options from the meat and seafood grill menu range from Dh90 for chicken breast up to Dh380 for a full lobster.
“As one of the first of its kind, Kiza offers Dubai an untapped category of fine dining,” Akanbi says.
“The more we penetrate global markets, the more our cuisine will be understood and integrated into the overall dining landscape. I see Dubai as ‘middle-earth’ – a crossroads to the world.”
Kiza will open its second restaurant in October in Nairobi, with additional locations to follow in Nigeria, Senegal, Canada and New York this year.
Next year, there are plans to expand into Egypt, Qatar, London, Paris and South Africa.
• Kiza opens on Saturday in DIFC. Visit kiza.ae for more details
sjohnson@thenational.ae